Golden Threads is a cheaper alternative to the Sulky products. I like it and use it sometimes. It's great if you have many blocks to duplicate. You draw the design on one, stack the papers up and "sew" without thread to mark the other pages. Then you pin them to the blocks and follow the dotted line.[/QUOTE]

You can get the same stuff from a mapping store and get it in white and in wider rolls. I think it costs less too.
Susan G

Hi newbee-
I've never FMQ'd before, and I know I need to practice, practice, practice...
I saw this as an alternative to marking...which I'm not entirely comfortable with doing yet- especially on the face of a quilt...I'm sure I'll get over it at some point...
Oh, and I'm a little OCD...if I'm going to be doing this for the first time on a "real live quilt" (after practicing), I didn't wanna muck it up, so having a pattern to go by would keep me from zigging when I should have zagged...

I've used it on meandering quilt designs and other simple, open designs---waves, etc---and it's wonderful. Sticks right on there, easy to rearrange if necessary, easy to see through and reasonably easy to remove, at least as easy as most papers I've tried. Try it on a test piece and see if you like it, too!

If it makes you feel better, I used a red sharpie to mark lines on interfacing, and after sewing them all, I now have a nice red line across the bed of my sewing machine

Teeler is right about the Magic Eraser, but also, it's worthwhile to know that rubbing alcohol will usually remove Sharpie ink as well as ball point ink, especially from hard surfaces, but to some extent from fabric as well, and I've never known it to cause any damage, though it will make the ink spread before it completely comes off. If you see it spread, don't panic because that is the indication that the ink is dissolving. Pour a little from the bottle cap directly on the stain and use an old rag to dab it up.

I tried the Press and Seal, some time ago. I don't remember now why I didn't like it for that, but I agree with those who emphasize that FMQ is all about free motion - not constrained by a lot of lines of any sort. I does help me to have an arc as the guide line for where I want to go with a feather or vine, however, and for that a marking pen is much easier than attaching anything over the top.

For paper piecing, the shorter stitch length make it easier to remove the paper. They punch holes that are much like the perforations on stamps. (It occurs to me that some of you may be too young to remember having perforated stamps! I don't know when the post office switched entirely to laser cut edges.) It helps to run a blunt point along the stitches before pulling the paper off. Also folding the paper back along the stitched can help to loosen it. If you are thinking of using this technique on a quilt, make a test block to see how you like it. Joan Doak's books have detailed instructions on FPP.

We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about.
~ Charles Kingsley

The first few times I did FMQ with my longarm, I used good old blackboard chalk - it brushed off easily with a fingernail brush and I was able to try several different times -- I have also used freezer paper on top of the quilt, marking the design with a sharpie, then moving the paper to the back of the longarm and following it like a pantograph. I am getting more comfortable with just doing the FMQ, but it has taken some time.